The Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya West Constituency, Hanna Serwah Tetteh, has denied reports that a six unit classroom block built by the Chinese Ambassador in her constituency is a birthday gift.
According to her “the school is a public school and not a private property; it certainly is not a personal gift to me.”
But, Hanna Tetteh in a statement to respond to the story which was on citifmonline.com, insisted that the Awutu Bereku D/A Junior High School was not a gift.
She said the Chinese Ambassador’s promise to reconstruct the school was made during the week she celebrated her birthday.
“Now, it is a facility available to the JHS students in my District Capital and I trust that it will improve the learning experience for them. The Government of China has constructed other school facilities in other parts of the country and has supported Ghana with various grant projects. This is not the first time a project of this kind has been executed in Ghana and it is a really nice school,” she added.
Below is the full statement:
Really sometimes our journalistic standards never cease to amaze me. The Chinese Government has constructed a new Junior High School in my Constituency/District namely the Awutu D. A. JHS “B”. The project was funded as a grant project from the Government of China, and no indebtedness has been incurred in respect of this project by the Government of Ghana. Last week the school was handed over to the Awutu Senya West District Assembly. The Ambassador of China and I were both at the handing over ceremony and none of us referred to the project as a gift to me, and now it is being reported as such? Amazing!
For the record, I had previously discussed with Madam Ambassador that one of the challenges in my Constituency/District was access to education and that there were a number of communities that needed to have their facilities upgraded and I inquired as to whether it would be possible for the Government of China to support any of these schools and improve their infrastructure with grant funding.
Subsequently during the week in which I celebrated my birthday she informed me that they would be in a position to construct and furnish a school in my Constituency, and thereafter in consultation with the District Chief Executive we selected the Awutu D. A. JHS “B” for construction.
Awutu D. A. JHS “A” had previously been reconstructed but the “B” block was in very bad shape, it looked more like a chicken coop than a school.
Due to the fact that this was a Chinese Government Grant projected the contract was awarded and all the procurement was undertaken by the Embassy of China in Ghana, the school was constructed and furnished in 3 months, as previously stated it has been commissioned and handed over to the Awutu Senya West District Assembly. Additionally Awutu D. A. JHS “A” was also renovated under the same project and the two schools which are adjacent to one another, and their compound look very good.
The school is a public school and not a private property, it certainly IS NOT a personal gift to me. Now it is a facility available to the JHS students in my District Capital and I trust that it will improve the learning experience for them. The Government of China has constructed other school facilities in other parts of the country and has supported Ghana with various grant projects. This is not the first time a project of this kind has been executed in Ghana and it is a really nice school.
Hopefully with time the quality of news reporting in our country will improve and become more accurate and factual.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana